Queen Aylanur Burakgazi
"''I don't care what you think is right and wrong, whether or not it's moral. I'm trying to stop my country from falling apart. And you can either help me, or you can get out of my way." -''Aylanur to Junzae Rosh, shortly after taking the throne. Ayla Burakgazi, also known as Queen Aylanur, is the leader of Ursisa, the mother of the Obsidian Trio, and the guardian of the Survivor's Pack. Biography Ayla was born to an unmarried couple in Laramie, Wyoming. Her mother soon left her and her father, returning to her homeland without her family. Devrim spent a lot of time trying to provide for him and his child, who came out to him very early on as a trans girl. The two were happy until shortly after Aylanur's sixth birthday when a car crash killed Devrim and wounded Aylanur. She was placed in the foster care system immediately afterward and went into the closet for several years after the accident. Aylanur never held any resentment or anger towards her foster families, but she also never felt a connection with any of them, viewing them as teachers at best and well-meaning strangers at worst. It was when she was sixteen or so that the mounting stress of her situation, along with the revelation that she wasn't entirely human, caused her to attack her foster mother's uncle in a fit of rage before running off into the woods. A few hours later, Abigail found Ayla and convinced her to come home, and even defended her against her biological family. Aylanur spent the rest of her childhood in Abigail's custody and formed a close relationship with her foster mother and siblings. When Ayla was about nineteen, she did some genetic testing and learned that while she wasn't a monster as she feared, she was part-Ursisan, and she decided to travel for a while. She moved to the continent, and upon looking into some records she learned that her mother was distantly related to the crown. She traveled northwards, encountering small farms and villages, and eventually met the beautiful Niru of the Heshto Band. The courtship between the two lasted for a year, and most likely would have lasted longer if Niru hadn't unexpectedly gotten pregnant. The two left and settled in Nmon Lau for a short time, but while participating in a peaceful protest in the streets, Niru was physically assaulted by a police officer and miscarried. In grief, the two moved to America for a short while, where Niru met and fell in love with Linh Nguyen. While the two didn't start a romantic relationship, it became a source of contention between Ayla and Niru, and a source of anxiety for the latter. The strain, however, quickly faded when Lihn came to them, badly wounded after having escaped an abusive boyfriend. The next day the three women helped Linh officially break things off with him and move out, and when Linh remarked that she had nowhere else to go, Aylanur offered for her to stay in the apartment she shared with Niru. Once Linh was settled in, the two women sat down and had a real talk with each other about boundaries and relationships, and Ayla eventually came to accept Linh as her wife's girlfriend. After some time, Niru expressed a longing for her homeland, and once Ayla and Linh agreed the three moved back to Nmon Lau. They managed to have a good life together, and Ayla took up local civics along with helping to revitalize the social systems that had been neglected by the ruling family. She split her time between working as a waitress in a run-down bar and doing social work, giving away what money she could even while skipping out on her depression meds. It was during this time that she came across a tiny girl scrounging through some garbage for food. Overcome with emotion, Aylanur took the girl home and presented her to her very tired wife and kind-of-girlfriend. Despite not having enough money to take the girl in, the three did their best to keep the child fed and safe, and within a month they considered the child as one of their own, as she slept in the same bed as the three women. A year into their stay in Ursisa, Niru reconnected with her parents and siblings, introducing them to her partners and daughter. While unused to the relationship, Lokur and Kerila accepted the women with open arms. At some point, Lokur and Aylanur had a conversation about the current state of Ursisa, where he encouraged her to take up leadership, saying that he saw some of himself in the young woman. The Burakgazi women returned home, where Aylanur threw herself into her work and studies. In January of 2020, a failed assassination attempt on the First Lady of the United States led to a week of bombings on Nmon Lau, where there were over 4,300 deaths, along with leaving nearly ten thousand injured and thirty thousand left without homes. Along with this was the destruction of the Crown Family, along with several important government buildings. Before the dust had settled, Aylanur collected her family and traveled to the remaining two people who were in her way for the throne. The first, a greedy man who valued his own life over his country, agreed not to make a claim for the throne, and after some threatening gave Aylanur access to his wealth in exchange for his life. The second, a shrewish woman with dreams of grandeur, refused to give up her claim, and Aylanur responded by isolating and killing her. With no other options for the throne, Aylanur was crowned as Queen. Under the first year of the Crown, she repaired public infrastructure and established new law codes, creating farms and jobs, showing her force and her power. She consolidated her forces, and once the country was in order she began to relax some of her regulations. Shortly after gaining power, Niru learned that she was expecting again. The two women grieved the loss of their first child terribly for the first few months, but Linh kept them going and helped bring joy back into their family. Minerva, too, was ecstatic at the idea of a younger sibling, and her cheer helped keep her mothers focused. Finally, after nearly ten months, a healthy baby boy was born, who the three mothers named Duc after Linh's grandfather. At some point between the time skip, Chike was adopted into the family from an abusive father. A few years afterward, the Survivor's Pack was found and placed under Royal protection. After the twenty-year time skip, the Queen appeared as a supporting character in Taerlyn and Arusa's story, being responsible for the two women meeting each other and encouraging Taerlyn to continue contact with Arusa. Upon the rescue of the young woman, she accepted the resignation and granted her a stipend for the rest of her days. Personality As a young girl, Aylanur was extremely withdrawn and quiet, sticking more to herself than her foster family or her agemates. Her skin color, along with her gender identity, made her a common target for bullies, and she learned very early on how to fight and protect herself. It was only after her adoption by Abigail that she began to enjoy more childish things, though she remained studious and reserved for a girl her age. After meeting Niru, she became more compassionate towards those around her, though she retained her distrust of those outside her circles, and she fully accepted the role of leadership when necessary. This carried over to her rule as Queen, where she is loving towards her country and family and ruthless towards anything or anyone who would hurt the ones she loves. In times of peace the queen is known to be a playful and rather snarky woman, and the hero-worship of her has lessened considerably, at least in Nmon Lau. She spends a good deal of her free time either working on laws to help improve the infrastructure of the country or walking around the city streets, seeing how her actions affect her people and getting personal feedback from those around her on what could be fixed. Despite coming into power as an absolute monarch and technically still being an autocrat herself, Ayla seems to show a great deal of disdain for other authoritarian rulers and has on several occasions been known to mock dictators and the like for their insecurity and poor leadership. When a foreign reporter commented on this, she replied that her duty was to the state, not to herself, and "any leader who doesn't understand that should have their head cut off." She has also tried to encourage critical thinking in the population, and when confronted with a problem she can't solve will often consult those around her for ideas and thoughts. Relationships Abigail Aylanur adores her foster mother and views her as the mother she never had. This was helped by Abigail's genuine attempts to help Ayla with her Turkish heritage, taking her to the local heritage center and doing research on traditional dishes. Though the two don't often get to see each other nowadays, they facetime often. Her Foster Siblings Ayla has a friendly relationship with each of her foster siblings, though she's more distant from them than she'd like. She's closer with Kitty than she is with either of her brothers, and the two will meet up every few months or so and just chat with each other. So far, each of her siblings has met her children, though Duc was too young to remember when they came to his Naming. Niru Aylanur loves her wife to an almost unhealthy degree and often makes excuses for Niru's behavior that she wouldn't accept from anyone else. However, she doesn't hesitate to call Niru out when the shifter has done something she can't forgive. After Linh came into the relationship, Aylanur gave reason after reason for why she wanted to give Linh and Niru their space, and the two women had to physically drag their lover into their bed to prove that she was still loved and valued. Niru is the opposite of her wife's impulse control, bringing fury when others would caution patience, and being ruthless when others would cow to mercy. Linh At first, Linh and Niru had a rather strained relationship. Neither was angry or upset at the other, but they were unsure on how to proceed. As time went on, Linh became Aylanur's confidant and friend, and eventual lover. When Niru spurs on Aylanur into action during tense moments, Linh cautions her against rashness, and the two women help to guide and preserve the country. Her Children Minerva Minerva and Aylanur have a tight relationship, one built on trust and dependence. Because Aylanur was the first to bring her daughter home, Minerva has always known that she is welcomed and wanted in her home. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that Minerva feels comfortable to ask her mother for help with simple tasks or for material needs, and often went hungry in her early childhood because she didn't want to bother her mother. As such, Aylanur has become adept at understanding when her daughter needs something, and with diffusing possible guilt in her eldest's mind. Duc Her precious heir, Aylanur loves and defends her child. As her middle child, he has a strained relationship with his mother, and while he takes to his duties as Crown Prince with a zealousness usually reserved for his garden, he harbors some resentment at having very little life outside of duty to the country. Aylanur, meanwhile, worries fiercely for her son and continuously tries to get him to take interests and act his age. She hopes for him to find a close friend, someone who could bring happiness back in her son's life. Chike Her youngest and weakest child, Aylanur dotes on Chike endlessly and worries fiercely for his health. After rescuing him from his abusive birth mother, she kept a careful eye on him for the first few months of his adoption. She gives him much more leeway than most and thinks of her as her baby, which nets him some mockery from his peers. He loves his adoptive mother, but he still harbors some fear that she will turn on him like his birth mother. Nadiah Aylanur adores her daughter-in-law and often invites her and her father to the capital. Nadiah, in turn, turns to Aylanur for help with things that are typically learned between mother and daughter, as Nadiah was another trans woman who had lacked a mother figure in her early life. Olivia Chike's odd creation is something of a granddaughter to the Queen. At the very least, she trusts the girl to keep Chike safe. She also indulges the robot's whims, taking her out for whatever food discovery has captured her attention that day or explaining things that may seem obvious to some. Arusa The Queen has a deep fondness for the young woman, viewing her as a niece. She invites Arusa for events at the Capital, though she rarely accepts, and she makes sure that Arusa isn't holed up all alone. Aylanur has even offered to officiate the wedding of Taerlyn and Arusa, though the two have yet to actually be legally married. Trivia * She chose her name based on a conversation she had with her father, where he told her that she would have either been named Aylan or Nisanur had she been assigned female at birth, and she decided to mash the two names together. * While she adores her wives, she still feels some resentment that Linh joined the marriage initially to be with Niru and that Niru would sometimes show preferential treatment towards Linh. Though all three of them are happy now and have communicated their needs, those feelings still linger. * She has nightmares on the regular, to the point where her sleep schedule is "catching what shut-eye when she can". * Her favorite color is pale violet, her favorite book is Of Fire and Stars, and her favorite food is a garlic rabbit stew. * The author has noted that Aylanur differs wildly from real-world dictators, and that in any realistic scenario she would most likely have been usurped or overthrown by someone more radical and dangerous. * As a young girl, Ayla was often complimented for her eyes, but they were a source of contention for her, as it was the one part of her that was blatantly not belonging to her father. She often wished for brown or black eyes instead, instead of green like her mother. Category:Protagonists Category:Ursisan Royalty